How many organizations do you know that ring in a fifth anniversary with Barbies bent on “world sexual dominance”, a “‘Miss Teen Jesus’ pageant” and a modern dance piece inspired by The Bell Jar? In other words, welcome back, Capital Fringe Festival.
Last night’s festival preview at Fort Fringe (home base is again at the group’s reserved parking lot at 607 New York Avenue NW) offered an evening almost exclusively devoted to the performers barreling into town this month. The festival may be light on new initiatives this year, but the evening, hosted by Fringe Executive Director Julianne Brienza, gave a sneak peek of what we can expect as Fringe celebrates its fifth year of doing what Fringe does best: showcasing the talents of those artists semi-established and otherwise who normally don’t get a whole lot of stage time. This year’s Fringe is the largest yet, with 137 shows (compared to last year’s 131) running from July 8-25.
Like last year, most venues are conveniently close together, although artists will offer their work to audiences across 10 main spaces this year instead of five (here’s the map). The number of opportunities to catch a show has jumped, too: there are 715 total performances this year, compared to 627 in 2009. Maybe a festival pass will be worth the investment this year?
For an idea of what you’re up against, here are some of last night’s most intriguing works (for better or for worse):
Do Not Kill Me, Killer Robots: Lots of cardboard signs and, surprisingly, laughs, from Ben Egerman, who orchestrates a one-man show about the last actor on earth. His excerpt, however, shed no light on how his audience served as killer robots, waiting to bring his life to an end — do you dare spend an hour with him to find out?
Ten/thirtyfour: A play about the D.C. riot of 1968, the players brought a surprisingly powerful scene featuring Stokely Carmichael (played by an actor with black Xs on his hands) at the height of SNCC’s influence. These kids didn’t just ask for attention — they demanded it, a plus when such heady subject matter is at stake. A must see, for sure.
